Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of heating and air conditioning technology. It relates to a method for regulating the temperature in a room or in a group comprising a plurality of rooms. It also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the method.
Description of the Related Art
Normally disclosed in the prior art are regulating devices for regulating the room temperature in one or more rooms, with which a temperature sensor arranged in the particular room records the temperature in the room and transmits the value to a regulator which then changes the heat flow supplied to the room if the measured room temperature value does not correspond to a preset setpoint.
A conventional hydraulic control schematic of a heating/cooling system designed for the special field of surface heating/cooling is reproduced in FIG. 1. The surface heating/cooling system shown in FIG. 1 is designed for heating/cooling a plurality of rooms R1, . . . Ri, in which, in each case, a heat exchanger 16 in the form of a pipe coil is laid in the floor, in the wall or in the ceiling. A room temperature sensor/thermostat 17, which records the temperature in each case, is also installed in each of the rooms. In addition, individual temperature sensors can be connected to the central regulator 11 to adapt the regulation. The heat exchangers 16 are connected to a common flow manifold 15 and a return manifold 14. A pump 19 pumps a heat-carrying liquid (fluid) into a group of manifolds. For example, the flow from the flow manifold 15 is optionally supplied by a heat generator 12 or by a chiller 13. Whether the heat generator or the chiller is active depends on the setting of two changeover devices 21 and 22 which optionally connect the heat generator 12 or the chiller 13 to the collector and flow manifolds 14, 15 respectively.
By means of a 3-way valve 20 driven by a motor M, an adjustable quantity of fluid from the return can be mixed with the flow in order to change or regulate the flow temperature. The flow temperature is recorded by a flow temperature probe 18 and transmitted to the central regulator 11. An outside temperature probe 23, which ensures that the flow temperature can be adjusted according to the currently prevailing outside temperature, is connected to the central regulator 11.
The room temperature in the rooms R1, . . . , Ri is regulated by the room temperature regulators 17 which act on the associated control valves V1, . . . , Vi which control the mass flow of the fluid through the appropriate heat exchangers 16.
A disadvantage with this type of heating/cooling and its regulation is that, on the one hand, the results of the regulation depend substantially on the correct positioning of the room temperature sensor, as a result of which the freedom of room design is significantly restricted. On the other hand, the storage effects of the heat exchanger, in particular when using room thermostats, lead to deviations between demand and supply which lead to a temperature drift and an increase in the use of energy.
A method for controlling the flow temperature of a system for transmitting heat energy, which takes into account side-effects, for example heat stored in the brickwork and internal loads, on the control of the energy requirement of a group of rooms, has already been proposed in publication EP 0 282 886 A2. This is achieved in that the energy mass flow consumed in the working medium circuit, and accordingly the flow temperature in the working medium circuit, is determined with the help of a system-specific three-dimensional characteristic block, the dimensions of which are determined by the flow and return temperature and the circulating mass flow of the working medium of the system. Here, the flow temperature is regulated by a 3-way valve in a similar way to that shown in FIG. 1. With a group of rooms/consumers, this type of regulation leads to the flow temperature being adapted to suit the average demand. In doing so, without individual room regulation, an oversupply of individual roomsconsumers or an undersupply of individual rooms/consumers cannot be ruled out.